Omanis block crossing over new UAE border rules

A few hundred protesters in Oman angry at new entrance regulations for UAE residents going to Oman have blocked their side of the Batinah border crossing, UAE daily newspaper The National reported.

New regulations imposed by the UAE restrict crossing into Oman from the UAE to the Corniche checkpoint and obliges UAE residents to send a copy of their passport and visa to hotels they would be staying in, the report claimed.

Other visitors who have bookings with dhow and dive agents must send their details two days in advance.

Omanis in Dibba, who count on visitors from UAE, have seen their businesses suffer since the rules were enacted three months ago.

“It would affect the tourism to Dibba,” Tarek Khalil, a dhow operator, was quoted as saying by The National.

“It limits people to enter as they please...a long time ago people used to come here, wander around and take a boat without any proper notice. Now they can’t do that without applying for a border pass,” he said.

The protests have prompted Oman's ministry of interior to hold talks with UAE authorities over the matter, the report claimed.